Standings after March 18th Games:
1. Knights 20 (111/37)
2. Yeti 16 (93/44)
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3. Mayhem 14 (78/59)
4. Colonials 13 (74/91)
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5. Eagles 12 (82/51)
6. Jawas 6 (53/90)
7. Walkers 6 (61/103)
8. Hounds 2 (41/114)
Playoff Update. Knights have clinched the top overall seed. They will play against the play in game winner on April 8th. The Yeti have clinched the 2nd seed since they have the head to head tiebreaker over the Mayhem. They will play against the 3rd place game winner in a best of 3 series starting on Monday, April 8th. If the season ended now, the Colonials would play the Mayhem for 3rd place with the winner of that game taking on the Yeti. The loser of that 3rd place game would have to win a play in game against whoever comes out of the consolation bracket (5th place to 8th place). No matter the outcome of games next week, the Jawas and Walkers will be playing against one another on Monday, April 1st. The Hounds are locked into the 8th spot and will take on whoever finishes 5th. If the Mayhem beat the Walkers Monday or even take the game to overtime, the Mayhem will automatically be locked into a 3rd place game against the Colonials or Eagles. If the Mayhem lose to the Walkers in regulation and both the Colonials and Eagles win on Monday, then the Mayhem would drop down to 5th place and have to play against the Hounds. If the Mayhem win on Monday or take the game to overtime, then it will either be the Colonials or Eagles playing against the Hounds in the consolation bracket. The Eagles can leapfrog the Colonials if the Colonials lose to the Yeti in regulation and the Eagles win or at least take the Knights to overtime.
Knights 7 Yeti 6 (Did not get to see much of this game)
For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, we saw a yeti/knights game finish 7-6, but the Knights got the better side of the score this time around. The Yeti were without Derik Day which should give them plenty of confidence going into the playoffs even in the loss last night. If these 2 teams play in the finals, we should be in for an entertaining series. The Yeti were ironman in the first period as they were also missing Steve Pompeii. Steve Kalgren arrived in style at the end of the first period. Their goalie Adam McKinley was pleased with the contributions from all the guys who were there last night. Ben Rossi scored the only goal from either side in the 3rd period and they had some chances to tie it at the end, but Knights goalie Clint Lingenfelter did his part to help the Knights clinch the top seed. Adam Mckinley said that Brandon Reiter did most of the damage for the Knights last night. Andy Calvert also chipped in some goals to help them clinch the top seed. It could be interesting to see how these teams approach next week’s regular season finales. The Yeti will go up against the Colonials. Assuming the Mayhem find a way to inch past the Walkers next week, they will be locked into a 3rd place game against either the Colonials or Eagles. If the Yeti feel better about their chances going up against the Mayhem or Colonials in the playoffs, they may be better off to lose to the Colonials next week. A Colonials win next week or an Eagles loss in regulation to the Knights next week locks the Colonials into a 3rd place game against the Mayhem (If they beat the Walkers). It does not sound like Kevin Smith will be able to play for the Colonials next week. The Knights will go up against the Eagles next week. If the Colonials lose against the Yeti next week, it could be interesting to see how the Knights go about their game against the Eagles. It appears that the Eagles have more going for them than the Colonials do right now. If the Knights want to avoid a potential first round series against the Eagles, they may be better off to lose against them next week so they can leapfrog the Colonials in the standings and get a 3rd place game against the Mayhem (if they beat the Walkers). The Eagles will end up on the Knights side of the playoff bracket if they lose to them in regulation next week.
Colonials 7 Mayhem 6
If these 2 teams end up playing a 3rd place game on April 1st, we could be in for an entertaining game. It was the 2nd time these 2 teams met this season and the 2nd time the outcome was decided by a goal. We have seen abbreviated versions of both teams in each game. The Colonials were ironman again last night (missing Kevin and Phil). They were missing Denny , Phil and John Matchock the last time the teams met. The Mayhem were missing Trent and Tyler Waltman last night. They were missing Trent and Anthony Schuckers the first time they played against one another. If they play for 3rd place, hopefully we will see a full version of each team. Last nights game went back and forth the whole way. Peach got the opening goal to put the Mayhem up 1-0. He batted in a Vinnie Deloia shot that was initially saved by Colonials goalie John Matchock. This was a battle of the Matchocks and they both played well for their respective teams. They both saw a lot of shots. The Colonials tied the game at 1 on a set up from Bob Anderson to Brian Anderson. A couple minutes later, Brian Anderson returned the favor by setting up Bob for the Colonials 2nd goal. The Mayhem tied it soon after (Vinnie) but the Colonials went up 3-2 late in the first period on a set up from Bob to Brian. The 2nd period went back and forth. Vinnie scored again for the Mayhem to tie the game at 3 but the Colonials would score the next 2 goals (Denny and Bob) to go up 5-3. Anthony Schuckers answered for the Mayhem to close the gap to 5-4 but Bob set Brian up for another goal to put the Colonials up 6-4 before Vinnie scored again for the Mayhem on an impressive shot from the side of the net to close the gap to 6-5 going into the 3rd period. Jason Stamler tied the game in the 3rd period when the ball found his stick off a deflection just minutes into the 3rd period. The game would remain tied for a while until Bob Anderson got one by Derrian to give the Colonials a 7-6 lead. Each team had chances to score in the 3rd period but both Matchock’s did their part. The Mayhem actually could have tied the Yeti for 2nd place if they had won last nights game and potentially leapfrogged them next week. They will go up against the Walkers next week. A win or even an overtime loss would give them a guaranteed 3rd place game against either the Colonials or Eagles on April 1st. The Colonials will conclude the regular season against the Yeti next week. They could find themselves in the consolation bracket if they lose to the Yeti and the Eagles find a way to get a point next week against the Knights. The consolation bracket winner/play in game winner will be on the Knights side of the bracket when the playoffs begin.
Eagles 11 Jawas 5
The Eagles kept hopes of a 3rd place game alive by beating the Jawas 11-5 last night. They found themselves up 10-0 late in the 3rd period before the Jawas caught them off guard (in what some people call garbage time). Henry Sutter had a shut out going until late in the 3rd period when Zach Smith scored (he filled in for the Jawas) to close the deficit to 10-1. Jason Stamler also filled in for the Jawas and scored their 2nd goal while Adam McKinley scored twice and Derik Pearce scored. Laken Dodd had an impressive shot hit the post earlier in the 3rd period. The Jawas got some good goal tending from Kaden Coulter in the first period. The Eagles fired a lot of shots his way throughout the game and he held his own in the first period. Jerred Amick, Zach Foradori and Larry each scored for the Eagles in the first period. The game was put out of reach by the time the 2nd period ended. A 3-0 lead after 1 turned into an 8-0 lead after 2. Jerred Amick, Eric Llewellyn and Zach Foradori seemed to be the main scorers in the 2nd period but they had a good balance of passing and goal scoring throughout the game. They were missing Austin Boyd and Cody. It was their 6th win of the season and believe it or not, all 6 wins have come without Cody. Cody has only made 4 regular season games so far with all 4 games going up against their toughest competitors. We will probably see a lot more of him when it matters most. If the season ended today, they would have to play against the Hounds in the consolation bracket with the winner of that game going up against the winner of the Jawas/Walkers game. The consolation bracket winner will go up against the loser of the 3rd place game in a single elimination play in game. The Eagles had a bye last year which took away their momentum when the playoffs began. They will have to take a little more of a scenic route to get to either the Knights or Yeti this year but maybe that wont be a bad thing. If the Colonials lose to the Yeti next week, the Eagles can go ahead of them in the standings and avoid games against the Hounds/Walkers or Jawas on April 1st if they beat the Knights or at least send the game to overtime so they can earn a point.
Walkers 6 Hounds 4
Hounds goalie Chris Snyder suffered a knee injury last week opening up the door for Mason Britton to fill in for them last night. He will be their goalie in Brockway this summer but this was his first game in net since 2019. He held the walkers scoreless for close to 25 minutes before Brice Miller snuck one past him to close the walkers 2-0 deficit to 2-1. Before the game started, Mason said that he would probably give up a soft goal. That’s exactly what happened when Brice Miller scored for the Walkers first goal. Regardless, Mason Britton and the Hounds should have been pleased with his effort last night. The Hounds got off a 2-0 lead early when Garrett Britton and Mark Chesley scored in the first period. The game would remain 2-0 until Brice Miller got the Walkers on the board. The game was tied at 3 in the 3rd period before Corey Bassett and Troy Gaydosh put the Walkers ahead to stay. Each contributed a couple 3rd period goals. Mark Chesley had 2 goals on the night for the Hounds. Jaron Buffone chipped in a goal as well. Derrian played goalie for the Walkers last night (Dodd was not able to make it). The Hounds could have actually leapfrogged the Walkers for 7th place if they had held on to win last night and avoided a potential colonials or eagles matchup when the playoffs begin, but they will most likely have to face one of them on April 1st. There is a slim chance of them facing the Mayhem. No matter the outcomes next week, the Walkers and Jawas will go up against each other on April 1st. The winner of that game will go up against the Hounds/Eagles or Colonials matchup on the same night.
March 28th Tournament Sign Up List: (If you want added or subtracted from this list, please let me know by Monday, March 25th. We are going to draft teams on Tuesday, March 26th.
Amick
Anderson
Buffone
Calvert
Chesley, M
Clontz
Conforto
Dodd, L
Gaydosh
Haag
Hetrick
Kline
Kline
Larry
Llewellyn
Lyons
Miller
Peach
Pierce
Pompeii, S
Reed, R
Ritzie
Rossi
Schuckers, A
Smith, Z
Stamler
Stinchcomb
Waltman
Wehner
Snyder (G)
Clint (G)
Matchock, J (G)
Sutter (G)
McKinley (G)
Pierce, T (G) - New Goalie
New Skaters --- Anderson M, Bixler, Rawlings, Spencer (not Joe).
We missed a birthday on the facebook page. Tony Dodd had a birthday on March 7th. We wont reveal his age on facebook but we would like to wish him a happy belated birthday. If you are a current player in the xhl and notice your birthday is not posted on the xhl facebook page, let me know as soon as you can. The only way I notice birthdays is if I am friends with you on facebook.
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